Evaluating Critical Care: Using Health Services Research to Improve Quality (Paperback, 2002)

Overview.- - Critical Care: Problems, Boundaries and Outcomes.- Health Services Research: A Domain where Disciplines and Decision Makers Meet.- Methods of Measurement in Intensive Care.- The Structure of Intensive Care.- Process of Care Assessment and the Evaluation of Outcome from Intensive Care.- Severity of Illness.- Measuring Treatment Outcomes in Intensive Care: Mortality, Morbidity, and Organ Dysfunction.- Health-Related Quality of Life: During and Following Critical Care.- Quality of Life and Longer Term Outcomes.- Techniques for Acquiring Information.- Comparing ICU Populations: Background and Current Methods.- A Hospital-Wide System for Managing the Seriously Ill: A Model of Applied Health Systems Research.- Funding and Support.- Hypothesis Generation: Asking the Right Question, Getting the Correct Answer.- The Integration of Evidence Based Medicine and Health Services Research in the ICU.- Using Systematic Reviews to Inform Decision Makers.- Consensus Methods and Consumer Opinion.- Benchmarking in the ICU: The Measurement of Costs and Outcome to Analyze Efficiency and Efficacy.- Assessment of Medical Devices.- Health Informatics.- Databases, Registries and Networks.- Application and Interpretation: Using Data to Improve Outcomes.- Organizational Effects on Outcomes.- Geographical Differences in Outcomes.- Disaggregating Data: From Groups to Individuals.- Driving Improvements: Quality Management in the ICU.- Applied Health Services Research: Translating Evidence into Practice.- Translating the Evidence: Creating and Sustaining Change.